EFF to lay a charge against Mampintsha over Babes Wodumo assault video

04 March 2019 - 12:21 By TimesLIVE

Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha during the 23rd annual South African Music Awards ceremony at Sun City on May 27 2017 in Rustenburg. Image: Gallo Images / Sowetan / Veli Nhlapo

The EFF in KwaZulu-Natal says it intends to open a case with police to investigate footage of musician Mampintsha which appears to show him assaulting his long-term girlfriend and fellow musician, Babes Wodumo.

The party issued a statement in which it said a charge would be laid by its chairperson, Vusi Khoza, in Umlazi on Monday.

The EFF's quest to open a case against the kwaito star comes after a clip purporting to show him beating Wodumo was broadcast on her Instagram Live feed. It went viral in the early hours of Monday.

Neither the pair nor their managers have responded to requests for comment. While some are urging the singer to open a criminal case, other social media commentators are questioning whether it was a publicity stunt.

The purported assault has been widely condemned, including by Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane, who called for an effective police investigation into the clip.

Speaking in Pretoria on Monday, he said: "I stand as a man in South Africa who's a husband of one wife and a (father) of a daughter ... You don’t touch my daughter like that."

The ANC Youth League in eThekwini said it was shocked and outraged by the video and encouraged Wodumo to open a criminal case.

"... We assure her of our full support and protection from any form of intimidation," the movement said in a statement.

The ANCYL also proposed a change to laws regulating gender-based violence and assault.

"South Africa has an alarming and growing number of gender-based violence cases, some reported and some not. The ANCYL calls for swift action, which will include jail time for perpetrators of gender-based violence ...

"On the same note, the ANCYL calls for changes to the laws governing assaults and abuses to allow the state to lay criminal charges against anyone who commits this crime. We believe that when there is clear evidence against a perpetrator, the state should not have to rely on the victim to ensure justice, the state must be empowered by law to act in the interest of justice."

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Babes Wodumo went live via Instagram video on the March 3 2019. She hid the camera while being hit several times, allegedly by her boyfriend, Mampintsha. In the video, Wodumo is seen holding her hands to her head during the incident.